


Summer Sweets and Treats

by Zebra (DQueenie13)



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Dadglovale, Fluff and Humor, Gen, lots of character cameos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:48:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25404889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DQueenie13/pseuds/Zebra
Summary: The rest of the "Freezer" gang decides, without Aglovale's input, that he absolutely must go on summer vacation this year.
Relationships: Aglovale & Lily (Granblue Fantasy)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Summer Sweets and Treats

**Author's Note:**

> This fic follows up on ["What's Cooler Than Being Cool? Ice Cold,"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18429158) but reading it isn't necessary to understand this story.

Aglovale heaved a sigh, rubbing his temple with one hand. No sooner had he stepped out of his room than the girls from the “Freezer” group bombarded him. Izmir and Macula Marius apparently regaled Lily and Erin with tales of adventure, beach barbeques, and summertime sweets from the crew’s annual summer vacations to Auguste. That was all well and good, but…

“Pleaaaaaase? Pretty please?” Lily had a tight grip on his free arm—or rather, his other arm was the free one—as she hopped up and down excitedly. Erin sighed wearily but made no move to stop her, while the two older figures giggled at the sight of them. _Apparently_ , the four of them had decided to attend this year’s summer outing, and for whatever reason, it was decided (without his input) that he naturally had to attend as well.

After a pause, Aglovale replied, “I’ll see. There’s much work for me to do in Wales, and I don’t have much time for a vacation.”

“Hrrrmm…” Lily made a noise in her throat as she pouted at him. Then, as if inspiration struck her, her face lit up again. “Oh! I know! If we use _aaaaall_ our powers together, we can _freeze time_! Then Uncle Aggy won’t need to worry about being busy!”

Aglovale was pretty sure that was _not_ how time worked. But then again, dropping Bonito on foes somehow filled people with energy, so the possibility they could literally freeze time wasn’t zero… Wait, no. No matter how he thought about it, that just wouldn’t work.

While he was thinking, he must’ve shaken his head, because Lily’s sad whimper brought him back to reality. “Uncle Aggy won’t go…”

“I didn’t say that.”

Instantly, Lily’s face lit up again. “There’s lots of food and stuff at the beach, right? Uncle Aggy can do… um, what’s it called? ‘Field research’? Um, anyways! You can learn a lot of stuff, Uncle Aggy!”

 _Field research…_ Aglovale couldn’t help but wonder where she’d learned that term. Was it Yurius? It was probably Yurius. (Actually, she learned it when she overheard Percival talking about his research on Auguste’s ecosystem.)

“That is true,” he conceded. “Perhaps it would be useful to take a… _reconnaissance_ trip to Auguste once in my life.”

“So you’ll go!”

The moment the word _Well_ escaped Aglovale’s lips, Lily deflated again, causing the rest of his sentence to get trapped in his throat. He was an expert at deflecting honeyed words and guilt trips, so why was this little Crystalian girl so good at bypassing all his emotional guards?

“It’s not nice to play with a girl’s emotions,” Marius smirked.

“And just who here is playing around? My paperwork won’t disappear because I asked nicely. But,” he continued as he gave Lily a reassuring pat on the head, “that doesn’t mean _I_ can’t disappear for a few days.”

“So you’re coming?!” Lily grinned from ear-to-ear, her large eyes practically sparkling.

Though he loathed to admit it, Aglovale’s smile had a tinge of gentleness to it as he replied, “Yes, I’ll go to Auguste with you.”

Izmir cleared her throat. “ _Just_ Lily?”

“Erin also.”

“Nobody else?”

“Nobody else.”

Aglovale sat under the shade of a patio table’s umbrella, sipping at a light-brown drink in his hand. “Iced coffee,” or so it was called—a newly-devised drink developed by Sandalphon and Macula Marius. The former had apparently been extremely hesitant about (if not downright hostile towards) the venture, but Marius managed to get him to change his tune… somehow. (At one point, he overheard Sandalphon scornfully muttering about “natural order” and “evolution of food” while experimenting with different coffee blends. No doubt it was something Marius spoke about with him.)

Aglovale turned the clear cup in his hand, scrutinizing the patterns formed out of magical ice on the side. This was Marius’ idea: using magical, non-melting ice meant it could keep cold drinks cold without diluting the flavor as normal ice would. By keeping the ice attached to the sides of the cup, it wouldn’t impede the drinker and would bring out its beauty when filled with colorful drinks like fruit juice (or iced coffee). Furthermore, because the cup was made of glass and the ice wouldn’t melt without magic, it was reusable. The “Wind-Reading Merchant” Karteira had thusly come up with the idea of selling the cups as souvenirs, a proposal that met great support from the crew. When Aglovale heard that Erin was one of the ice-tisans, he naturally had to buy one (or a few); in return, Erin customized his cup with the House of Wales’ emblem.

As he was savoring the drink, a _certain_ someone sat down in the chair on the other side of the table. “And what brings the Lord of Wales himself all the way out to the Auguste beaches?”

“…Summer vacation. And what of it?”

The man chuckled, resting his cheek in his hand as he propped his elbow up on the table. “Nothing. Though you don’t seem to be dressed for it?”

Aglovale wasn’t daft enough to wear full armor to the beach, of course. But he only went as far as taking off the armor and was dressed in his usual clothes otherwise. His black, long-sleeved tunic, long pants, and combat boots stood out like a sore thumb when the rest of the crew wore casual, summertime clothing. Thanks to his ice magic, however, not even a bead of perspiration showed on him (yet).

“I have a hard time believing you picked _your_ beachwear for yourself, Siegfried.”

If someone told Aglovale to imagine _the_ Dragonslayer in a hoodie and cargo shorts with his hair tied up in a loose ponytail, he would have brushed it off a girlish fantasy … and yet here he was, gazing at Siegfried in that exact getup.

Siegfried laughed again. “I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that yes, I needed the crew to help me pick out new outfits to blend in on Auguste.”

The term _blend in_ made him sound highly suspicious, but Aglovale decided not to point that out. Instead he remarked, “Well, they did a good job.”

“So they did.” Siegfried scanned the area while Aglovale switched between watching Siegfried’s face and following his gaze. After a few seconds, Siegfried stood up. “A-ha, there he is.”

Aglovale, following Siegfried’s lead, sat up straight. “What is it?”

“The man who helped me pick out one of my outfits. It is a traditional garment known as a _yukata_. I think you’ll quite like it.”

“And you’ll have him help?”

“You’ll find that I’m… not the best person to ask for fashion advice.”

 _I long knew that_ , Aglovale thought to himself, but he knew better than to say that aloud. He silently followed Siegfried, ducking and weaving between crewmates. They approached a brown-haired man who looked around their age, talking to a woman with reddish-purple hair.

The woman was first to notice them. “Well met, Sir Siegfried.”

“Good day, Volenna, Jin.”

“Oh, Siegfried! It’s good to see you again,” the man named Jin remarked as he saw who it was. Looking at Aglovale, he continued, “I’ve seen you around on the Grandcypher, but I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced. My name is Jin. And you are…?”

“Aglovale of Wales.”

“Ah! So _you’re_ Lord Aglovale? Your reputation precedes you.”

The noble’s lips curled upwards in a wry smile. “I won’t ask whether that reputation is a good one or not.”

“Hahaha! Besides your incident with Feendrache a few years ago, the worst I heard about you was Gran complaining about how much Djeeta offered to, ah, _persuade_ you to come on board.”

“She was a very determined child.”

Jin cleared his throat. “So, what did you two approach me for?”

“I told Aglovale about the yukata shop you showed me last time. I think its traditional style would suit him well, but… I think you’re far better suited for showing him around.”

“Converting more people to the way of the yukata, I see! That won’t be a problem.” Turning to his companion, he added, “Sara went there too, didn’t she? Should I let her know where to find you?”

She replied that they already agreed on a spot earlier, and with that, they split ways. En route to the shop, Jin and Aglovale discussed the origins of the yukata, their creation process, and the rich culture and history behind them. While Siegfried remained silent, it was obvious that he was absorbing every word between the two—Aglovale knew that Siegfried was attentive and clever, of course, but he had to quietly admit that he underestimated Siegfried’s interest in learning new things.

When they entered the shop, two Erune women were perusing a rack of children’s yukata. Upon hearing the bells at the door jingle, they looked up. Yuel was first to speak. “Oh, look who it is!”

“What a coincidence, meeting you three here!” Societte beamed. “Are you looking for a yukata too, Sir Aglovale?”

“It must seem quite obvious by my attire, hm?”

“Hee-hee! You’d be surprised. A few of our crewmates who already have swimsuits are starting to explore yukata options too. Each island has its own culture!”

“Is that so? And are you two looking for yukata for Kou and You?”

Yuel grinned. “Ding-ding-ding! Gotta get ‘em some summer clothes to get into the summertime vacay mood!”

“Oh, Jin, if you’re looking for Sara,” Societte added, “She’s changing into a yukata right now.”

Right as she finished her sentence, You’s angry voice called out from the far end of the room. “Sis Yuel! Sis Socie! This ain’t workin’!”

She stepped out of her changing room, wearing a light pink yukata adorned with embroidered blue and white flowers. It was a beautiful yukata that suited her well… that is, if her massive nine tails weren’t obstructing it. Because the garment wasn’t designed to accommodate tails, she was forced to awkwardly bundle up the fabric above them. As the older Erunes walked towards her, she continued, “I’m tryin’ to hide my tails, but they just! Won’t! Go! Away!”

Societte smoothed her hair. “There, there. It’s alright, You. It takes a while to learn how to hide them, and you have to put in nine times the effort that we do.”

“If the tails don’t fit under the yukata, then make the yukata fit around the tails!” Yuel beamed after seeing You continue to pout.

You’s eyes widened. “H-huh? Can you do that?”

“There is one style of men’s yukata that uses a short wrap-around tunic and shorts instead of resembling a long robe,” Jin chimed in. “It may not be typical for women, but I doubt anyone would question it upon seeing your tails.”

“Listen to Uncle Jin’s wisdom! And we can make it into a tunic and skirt that basically resembles a regular ol’ yukata! So don’t get mad at yourself! Sound good?”

You still pouted, but she replied with a flat “ _Fine_.”

As Yuel went to grab the shopkeep and explain the plan, Aglovale began skimming the row of men’s yukata. He was rather picky about his attire (and by “rather”, we mean “extremely”), so he spent a great deal of time perusing his options… Long enough, in fact, that at some point in the two-hour search, Jin and Siegfried resigned to picking ones for him to try on and shoving him into the changing room, respectively.

Eventually, he settled on a steel blue _nagagi_ that faded towards white at the bottom, with a translucent white _haori_. The ends of the haori’s sleeves and the bottom of the nagagi had identical gold patterns decorating them, and he was quite taken by the fine details. His _zōri_ had straps made of blue-dyed silk, matching his nagagi. After Aglovale declared his intention to purchase this set, he didn’t notice Jin, Siegfried, and Sara’s (who joined the search for the last 30 minutes) relieved sighs.

Parting ways with Jin and Siegfried, Aglovale spotted Lily across the street from the shop, chatting with Sara, Kou, and You in the shade. Lily, too, changed into a summer outfit—though it wasn’t incredibly different from what she usually wore. It lacked the train, sleeves, and tights that her original dress had, and she wore strapped sandals on her feet with a long, thin white shawl wrapped around her arms.

Upon noticing him, she bid the others farewell and ran towards him. “You’re in a yukata too! They’re getting super popular!”

“So they are. Perhaps you want to buy one later?”

She giggled. “Maybe! Maybe Erin and Auntie Mari and Auntie Izmir will try them on too!”

“I’m sure they will if you ask them nicely.”

“Heehee! Oh, and Uncle Aggy!” She held up one end of her shawl up to his haori. “We’re kinda-matching, see!”

“Oh, so we are.”

Sara called Lily’s name. “We’re going to the beachside! Want to join us?”

“Okay!” After giving her response, she turned to look at him, as if seeking some kind of answer. He wasn’t sure what her unspoken question was, so he simply urged her on with a promise to catch up with her. She didn’t seem completely satisfied with his answer, but ran off to join the others anyways.

While perusing the shops and stands, Aglovale ran into Izmir, who was shopping with some other crewmates she’d befriended during previous summer trips. After promising to meet with them for sandcastle-making later, the two parted ways. After a while, his feet took him to the beachside. He didn’t see Lily there, but he saw the beach ball that Sara (or rather, Graphos) held earlier resting next to a frozen-over beach chair. Based on the magic he sensed, Macula Marius was sitting in it. The kids had probably run off to do something else and left the ball with her.

Aglovale sat down in the chair next to Marius’, deciding to follow her suit and freezing the chair with his magic before sitting down. He loathed to admit it, but the sun felt much hotter and brighter in Auguste than in Wales. Despite being used to standing for hours under the summer sun in full regalia for ceremonies without breaking a sweat (ice magic certainly came in handy for that), Auguste’s sun was far stronger than he expected.

Watching Aglovale fan himself with a newly bought folding fan, Marius’ lips curled upwards. “Oh? Is the heat starting to get to you?”

“Not exactly. It’s just that Wales never gets this hot.”

“So the heat _is_ starting to get to you.”

“As I said, I’m not used to it, that’s all.”

“Hehehe.” The mischievous smirk on her lips widened, and Aglovale rolled his eyes as she started her next sentence. “If the heat ever becomes too hot to bear, then dive into my bosom and—”

“I will not.”

Aglovale’s curt reply elicited a laugh from the primal beast. “The offer still stands.”

“I may as well experience Auguste’s summer heat now that the four of you dragged me out here.”

“Enjoy it for the next ten seconds before Lily and Erin return.”

 _I won’t_ , he thought to himself, but he knew better than to voice that.

True to Marius’ words, no more than ten seconds passed before he heard a pair of feet run up to them. “Uncle Aggy! Auntie Mari! Look at this!”

In Lily’s hands was a bowl with a huge layer of fruits and sauces on top of… snow? Was that what the white flakes were?

“My, my… another mortal delight, is this?”

“It’s ice shaves!”

“Shaved ice,” Erin quickly corrected.

“I knew that!” After her off-handed reply, Lily triumphantly plopped the bowl onto the table between Marius and Aglovale. “Miss, um, Kar-tay-ra gave it to us to say thank you for helping out!”

A wry smile crossed his lips. Evidently, Karteira’s nose for profits still hadn’t taken a vacation. He couldn’t criticize her, however, considering he was technically here to make some economic ties with the Auguste chamber of commerce and perform some “field research.” It wasn’t like he could completely slack off while he was here; not to mention the rather hefty stack of papers to review back in his room on the Grandcypher. They were too important to leave to Tor so he brought them along, much to Lily’s displeasure. (“Vacation is for vacationing!” she’d said.)

“What did you help with?” Aglovale already had an inkling as to what the answer would be, but he felt it was polite to ask. Kids—rather, people in general—liked getting recognition for their achievements, after all.

“Um, we just stood there!”

Erin sighed as she spoke in the younger Crystalian’s stead. “Since our hearts of frost freeze the water around us, Miss Karteira had us freeze an incoming wave, then used the ice to set up a shaved ice stall.”

“Hmm…” Marius gazed in the direction the two had come from. “Is that what the long line is for?”

“Uh-huh! Um, well, most of it is for Grampy Sandy’s* juice stand though! But it’s okay, shaved ice is still super tasty! We got extra spoons so everyone can share!” Then, as if realizing something, Lily abruptly spun the bowl until the side with a large, whole strawberry faced Aglovale. “I picked the biggest strawberry for you!”

(* By the way, there was a great debate over whether it was more appropriate to call Sandalphon “big brother,” on account of his apparent age; “uncle” since that’s what Lily uses for most older men; or “grampy” considering his actual physical age. She eventually settled on “grampy” both to match “Sandy” and because it sounded close to “grumpy,” which was her impression of him. Naturally, the whole discourse made the person of interest even moodier, and he shut himself inside the kitchen for a few hours afterwards.)

Aglovale didn’t remember telling her he liked strawberries and after asking, she confirmed he hadn’t. She deduced it based on the strawberry cake Vane made for Percival on his birthday, and he used strawberries because they grew in Wales. “That’s kind of a weird place to grow in, though,” she remarked, which he wasn’t quite sure how to respond to.

It didn’t feel right to eat the girls’ reward, so Aglovale only ate the strawberry and a spoonful of the shaved ice. (Also, as a member of royalty and an unmarried man, sharing a dessert with one woman and two young girls would be scandalous in Wales, but he kept that to himself.) Lily was displeased even after his explanation, but she also wasn’t going to turn down a larger portion of the dessert, so she resorted to pouting even as she shoveled down the shaved ice.

When Aglovale stood up, so did Lily, curiosity brimming in her eyes. “I’m going on a walk by the shore.”

“I’m coming with you!” She darted over to his side, flapping her arms as if she’d somehow turn into a bird and perch on him.

Erin, meanwhile, seemed much more content to settle into Aglovale’s vacant, still frozen-over chair. She took out a book on Auguste wildlife, flatly stating that it was too hot and noisy and she was going to make ice sculptures as a distraction. With Erin staying, Marius decided to accompany her, promising icy retribution should any lout try to make a move on them. Aglovale didn’t doubt her.

Lily gripped his sleeve as she half-skipped to match his pace, while he slowed down to match hers. She was at the age where she was curious about everything, so every so often, something laying on the beach or some food stall would grab her attention and she’d drag him along towards it.

After a while, when they weren’t within earshot of any other crew members, Aglovale ventured a question. “Lily, why were you so insistent on having me attend the crew’s vacation?” His words were too complex, though, so he had to rephrase his question twice before she understood him.

“Um… I guess it’s because you don’t really do stuff with people? I don’t mean like, being alone,” she added, flapping her free arm up and down as though it would make the right words come, “but you’re always talking about the Kingdom of Wales! Even when you talk to people in the crew, it’s usually negotiation stuff, or buying and trading stuff for Wales. You don’t really talk about yourself or other people.”

She continued, kicking up dirt as they walked. Their pace had slowed down significantly. “It’s been a lot of months since we started meeting with Auntie Izmir and Auntie Mari, but… I don’t think we ever talk about ourselves? Except for me. I talk about a lot of things a lot!”

Aglovale felt conflicted. On one hand, that was a good thing. Being too easy to read, too understood, meant being predictable, weak, exploitable; for someone of his station, carelessness of that sort could doom an entire nation. On the other hand, he felt guilty for keeping a wall between even someone as young and innocent as Lily. It felt like he was dragging her into his problems when she had nothing to do with them. At the same time, the exact problem was that liabilities didn’t _intend_ on being one—but they could be used to devastating effect if they fell into the wrong hands.

In his pensive silence, he didn’t realize he’d stopped walking; he only noticed when Lily walked in front of him to look at his expression. She must have interpreted his silence as being upset because she added, “It’s okay! Erin’s like that too. She never really talks about what she likes or what she’s interested in unless you ask, and she’s never super curious about anything. And she worries about me a lot and is always making sure I do things right. It seems all stuffy and stuff unless you’ve known her for a long time.”

“Stuffy, hm?” He had vague memories of Lamorak arguing with him about something like that. He couldn’t remember it clearly—maybe it happened too often. “Do you think I’m stuffy?”

“Mmm… Nope! Uncle Aggy and Uncle Percy use big words a lot, but I wouldn’t call it stuffy! Stuffy’s like, being so full of things that you can’t put anything new inside, right? Um, if I had to describe you, it’s more like… you’re stuck somewhere? But it’s okay, I get stuck too! Like when I’m hungry and all I think about is food! Usually it goes away after I eat something tasty, even if it’s not what I was hungry for.”

_Stuck, huh? An intriguing observation…_

“Would summer vacation make me less stuck?”

Lily swished her head from side to side as she thought. “Well, you said you’ve never been to the ocean, even though you’re from the Kingdom of Wales—”

_I’m not sure what that has to do with anything, but alright…_

“—and since you’re the Lord of Wales, that means you need to learn how to take care of the big ones! Like Ca Ong!”

_Wait._

This whole time, Lily had been mistaking _Wales_ for _whales_. Now that he thought about it, Lily probably never saw “Wales” written out, and even if she had, she may have thought it was a misspelling. Erin and Lyria both mentioned that Crystalians didn’t use written language; their books projected visual recordings of their memories instead. All things considered, it was silly to assume Lily _wouldn’t_ have gotten mixed up.

For the next few minutes, Aglovale gave her an impromptu lesson on homophones and oronyms. She seemed to understand the broader concept, though at the end of it, she quipped, “I still wanna see you ride Ca Ong some day!” He promised to talk to Lyria about it.

Because the conversation took a total detour, Aglovale decided to drop the original topic. He had to admit he’d underestimated Lily’s astuteness; of course, she was a bit silly sometimes, but he didn’t think she was stupid. However, he hadn’t expected her to pinpoint his weakness so easily. He couldn’t tell if he was much easier to read than he thought, or if it was just a child’s intuition. For her part, Lily didn’t ask any questions about the earlier conversation. She seemed much more interested in chasing down crabs, and accidentally froze a few with her heart of frost. They gathered up the frozen ones and gave them to Elmott to cook up.

By the time the two returned to where Erin and Marius were waiting, Izmir was already with them. As they approached, she gave a wry smile. “Unfortunately, there’s an issue with our sandcastle-making plans.”

“How so?”

“Building a sandcastle requires a lot of water. Our hearts of frost are easier to control since we met Gran, but we still freeze water near us when he isn’t around,” Erin replied. Gran was elsewhere on Auguste, attending an eating competition Sierokarte invited the crew to. Unfortunately, even though Djeeta was with them, she wasn’t a “spring” like Gran was, so it wasn’t like bringing her over would help.

Lily pouted again. “We tried making a sandcastle with Sara and Kou and You earlier, but it didn’t work out. But it’s okay, we did other stuff!” Despite her brave face, it was clear she was quite upset about it.

Aglovale placed a hand on his chin as he pondered. Sandcastles were out of the option until Gran returned. In fact, by the fact that there weren’t any sandcastles in their vicinity, people must have realized that the area was being rendered impossible for sandcastle-building. Inwardly, Aglovale hoped that his walk with Lily didn’t interfere with anyone’s sandcastles—and if they did, that they wouldn’t realize it was because of her. It was a bit unfair to other visitors to disrupt a prime vacationing spot, but it was also unfair to say that Lily and Erin couldn’t enjoy the beach because of their nature.

Gazing off into the distance, his eyes fell upon a rather unpopulated part of the beach. As if gears had turned into place, a smirk crossed his lips. “I know just what to do. Follow me.”

While he made sure to avoid large crowds of people as they made their way over to the spot, Aglovale still overheard some tourists commenting on the sudden “refreshing breeze” as they passed through. At one point, a boy exclaimed, “Woah, my ice cream froze up again!” It was probably melting on him before they came in the vicinity. At least their frost was helping _someone_.

“Uncle Aggy, where are we going? Are we there yet? What are we doing?”

A coy smile danced on his lips. “Have you ever made a large ice structure?”

“Um, like the Ice Crystal Palace? I didn’t build it, but it’s a _huuuuuge_ ice castle!”

“Would you like to build your own ice castle, then?”

Lily gawked—apparently, she never thought about making an ice castle of her own. Of course, Aglovale didn’t intend on making anything particularly spectacular, but it was the next best thing to a sandcastle. As they neared their destination, Aglovale started gathering up magic power.

“Stand back.” Aglovale turned his back to the shore and drew out his sword. The others took a few steps away. “ _Silberne Welt!_ ”

The area around them was instantly covered in a wall of ice. Confused beachgoers stared at them and started making a commotion, but he ignored them. “There, a solid foundation for our ice castle.”

“But it’s summertime! It’s all about beaches and stuff! Why are we making an ice castle?”

Izmir giggled. “Oh, Lily. We’re doing this _because_ it’s summer. Our ice magic means we’re the only ones who can make an ice castle on a hot, sunny beach like this!”

“Oh! So nobody’s seen an ice castle here before!”

“That’s right,” she replied. Izmir decided it wasn’t important to mention the time she (unintentionally) froze over a bungalow and turned it into an ice resort.

The prospect of creating Auguste’s first-ever (pure) ice castle was enough to send Lily into overdrive. Erin and Aglovale had to restrain her from creating ice everywhere, eventually calming her down enough to start building an ice castle properly. Naturally, their work drew a lot of attention, and soon enough a small crowd of onlookers were watching them—from a safe distance, considering how much cold they exuded.

By the time the group reached a satisfactory stopping point, the sun was dipping below the horizon. Their handiwork was bathed in a deep golden light, making it a truly miraculous sight to behold on the hot sunny beaches of Auguste. Aglovale, Izmir, and Marius stood off to the side, admiring their work while Erin fussed over some details and Lily made rounds around it.

“ _So_ …” Djeeta’s voice piped up behind them. When they turned to look at her, one eyebrow was quirked in a mixture of bafflement, exasperation, and bemusement. She gestured at the Freezer group’s massive ice sculpture. “What is this?”

Lily flung out her arms, proudly displaying their handiwork. “It’s an ice castle!”

Calling it a “castle” was a massive understatement. The sheer size of the castle notwithstanding—it was large enough to squeeze Lily inside—it had expanded into an entire miniature castle _town_. The castle itself was perched at an advantageous spot at the top of the beach, with the town expanding downwards towards the ocean. Furthermore, not only was it a castle town, it was a castle town _under siege_ by a horde of dragons (whose details were what Erin was fussing over). Luckily Aglovale had the foresight to start building in an area with less traffic, but the fact remained that it took up _most_ of its surroundings.

When Djeeta pointed this out, Aglovale replied, a bit huffily, “By definition, castle towns need a castle,” and she decided to drop the subject. As she went to go check on other crew members, she only took about six paces from the Freezer group before she heard the sound of a large wave, hooting and hollering from the Lowain Bros, then the subsequent audible freezing of water.

“Hm.” “Oh dear.” “Uh oh.” “Oopsies.” “Of course it happened to _them_.”

Preparing herself for whatever antic-gone-awry they’d gotten into _this_ time, she turned around—and lo and behold, not only had the Lowain Bros wiped out while trying to ride a wave, they came in proximity of the Freezer group. Now the bros were suspended in midair, partially encased by the now-frozen wave.

Djeeta crossed her arms, drumming her fingers against her upper arm as she tossed around various ideas for freeing her captive crewmates in her mind. After deciding on her course of action, she headed down towards them as she called for Lennah and Yuel in the loudest voice she could muster. As she stepped towards the bros, she drew out Kanabo from her magic bag.

“Uh, Djeeta?” Lowain’s voice quivered as he noticed the dangerous glint in her eyes. “Wha’tcha you gonna do with that…?”

She dexterously twirled the large spiked staff, adjusting her grip so she was wielding it like a bat. “I’m gonna break you out, of course.”

It was a good thing the beach was largely empty now, because the bros’ terrified shrieks certainly made everyone in the vicinity come running. As Djeeta bashed away at the base of the frozen wave, breaking off chunks of ice, Aglovale turned to Lily.

“Hitting things hard like Djeeta is doing right now can be called ‘whaling’—spelled like the animal. And what the Lowain trio is doing is called ‘wailing,’ with an ‘A-I’ instead of an ‘H-A.’”

Lily’s eyes sparkled. “And they like ‘Wahey’-ling, too!”

Her unexpected pun was met with a mixture of boisterous laughter and half-hearted groans from the rest of the crew, and not even Aglovale could hide his smirk. The bros, of course, were not nearly as amused. Tomoi—who was unfortunate to get frozen in such a way that his derriere was all that faced the crowd—shouted back, “Not cool, Lily!”

“Not cool?” Marius smirked. “Her _coolness_ is the reason why you’re in this predicament.”

As even the other bros roasted Tomoi for setting himself up for that one, Tweyen used her flight magic to land next to Marius. “Oh, are we telling puns? Count me in too—or three, I suppose!”

As Sierokarte entered the scene, a bead of sweat dripped down Lowain’s face. “Bros… There’s three ways for us to die tonight. Freezing, fall damage, or bad puns. Which one are you guys gonna take your bets on?”

Djeeta decided for them. With a great CRACK, the bottom of the ice-wave caved under their weight and they fell to the ground as one big block of ice. Luckily, Lennah and Yuel were on standby to heal them and melt off the remaining ice as everyone else got a good laugh at their expense.

And thus, Aglovale, Lily, and Erin’s first day at the beach drew to a close.

As Aglovale drafted a letter back to Tor, he ultimately decided to omit most of the day’s events, deciding that it was either unnotable or would tarnish his prestige. He ended up writing about the “little Crystalian children,” his souvenir cup, and the “fascinating garments called _yukata_.” In particular, he noted how he was able to try on several of them in “only” two hours. From the perspective of a nobleman who could spend up to six hours putting on a single outfit to prepare for a formal event, two hours was certainly short!

After he put down his pen, Aglovale stared at the soft flicker of the candlelight. Lily’s words from earlier still rang in his mind.

_If I had to describe you, it’s more like… you’re stuck somewhere?_

Aglovale wondered whether Lily was even aware that she saw right through him. Perhaps she’d already forgotten about the conversation by now.

_I wonder what Lamorak and Percival would say if they overheard that conversation…_

Staring at the pile of papers to review, promptly deciding he didn’t have the energy to go through them tonight, then immediately doubling back with thoughts about at least attempting to do _something_ with them, Aglovale reached out for the first page when someone knocked at the door.

“Pardon the intrusion, Lord Aglovale.” The deep voice at the other end of the door belonged to Owen, a young knight in the service of Princess Anne, the heiress of a distant kingdom that specialized in summoning magic. They had no diplomatic relations with Wales, but the two struck up conversation before. “I was tasked with delivering a package from the girls’ room.”

Apparently, the girls found it discourteous to enter the men’s hallway late at night, so Anne tasked Owen with delivering it in their stead. Of course, Aglovale hadn’t forgotten the time the rest of the Freezer group, plus Lyria, broke into his room for a gallery viewing of Erin’s figurines. This probably meant that the package was not solely their doing.

After Aglovale accepted the package and closed the door, he pulled out the card peeking out from the bag. On the cover was written in large, colored-in bubble letters: FEEL BETTER SOON!

Based on the coloring styles and patterns inside each letter, it seemed like a different crewmate colored in a chosen letter. That said, he wasn’t sure why they were giving him a get-well card when he wasn’t sick. The girls had anticipated that reaction, however, and when he opened the card, inscribed in the middle was:

_We know you aren’t sick so we didn’t write ‘Get well soon,’ but Lily told us you looked sad when you were walking with her on the beach, so here’s a care package from the Girls’ Room!_

Littered around the card were little notes and well-wishes from the girls that he presumed were in the room at the time.

_We didn’t have real strawberries on hand, so this’ll have to come close. And if it doesn’t, then too bad._

In someone else’s handwriting was an arrow pointing at the last sentence and the words, _Pretend you didn’t see that!_ This message followed a miniature collage of a strawberry. The note was left unsigned, but based on Lily’s tales, this was Rosamia’s handiwork.

_If you wanna learn to ride the waves tomorrow, I can take time off my schedule tomorrow and show you the ropes! Lily and Erin too! I’ll have Joel on standby just in case something happens, so don’t worry! -Cailana_

Lily would probably do it if he went, but he wasn’t sure if Erin was leaving the Grandcypher for the rest of the trip. The eating competition was over, so Gran and Lyria could join them too—mostly to make sure Lily didn’t freeze the waves again. Aglovale decided to ask them during breakfast.

_The animal lovers’ club meets every Wednesday on the deck! Feel free to join us! Vapaus misses you!_

This note was signed by Sen, Jasmine, and Vajra (and Garjana too, based on the paw print). He’d stopped by once on a whim, but he didn’t visit the Grandcypher enough to be a regular attendee. If he remembered correctly, Vapaus was one of the cats Dante cared for. For some reason, the cat gave him a sense of nostalgia, but he couldn’t pinpoint why.

_I was gonna give you some skin cream, but like, you’re 32 and your skin is GLOWING. You totes don’t need skincare advice. So I sent some fresh cukes cuz like, that’s way more useful and all. (_ _≧∇≦_ _)b xoxo Chloe_

Maybe he’d use the cucumbers as a midnight snack. He contemplated asking Chloe what kind of skin cream she would have given him, just for… research purposes, of course.

_Heya Lord Aglovale! The whole “royalty” business gets pretty stifling and you had to ascend the throne pretty young, so I bet it’s tough on you. You’re doing great! Sincerely, Anne_

Anne’s sudden formality with her “Sincerely” made it seem like she’d remembered at the end that the card _could_ be seen as a formal correspondence between two royal families. Based on their few interactions, he figured that was probably exactly what happened.

_There’s a small bottle of liquor in there! It’s Lamretta-approved! Enjoy!_

Lamretta probably approved of _anything_ alcoholic, to be honest. He wasn’t in the mood for drinking tonight and was rather particular about his alcohol, but at worst he could foist it as a gift to someone else if it wasn’t a kind he liked.

There were a few signatures without notes from crew members that weren’t particularly familiar with him. Flipping to the back of the card, Aglovale found one last message in familiar handwriting.

_I left a new ice sculpture in the bag. It is based on a taxidermied electric eal the crew got during a previous summer vacation. It wore a wedding dress, which is a special custom for humans, so I gave it a new outfit based on your armor. I worked off memory so it might not be accurate. Also, Lily fell asleep while we were making this card, so this message is on her behalf. -Erin (and Lily)_

Aglovale was not sure why the crew had a taxidermied electric eal in a wedding dress, but he was sure there was some interesting story behind it. After reading the note, he immediately rummaged through the bag, taking out the rest of its contents. The item carefully wrapped in paper was probably the ice sculpture. He unwrapped it delicately and after seeing Erin’s creation, gazed at it for a few seconds.

“Pff… Heh… Bwahahahaha!”

He had no idea what he expected when Erin said she sculpted an electric eal in his armor, but he certainly got _exactly_ what she said it was. Miniature pauldrons rested on the top set of fins, with recreations of the brooches, chest plate, and belt in their appropriate places. There was even a fluttering cape behind it. As support, the bottom tapered into a wide base so it could be propped up on his shelf.

This certainly wasn’t something that Erin could have made in two or three hours; she probably worked on it for a while and happened to have a reason to finish it today. Aglovale stole a glance at the figure again, only to break out into laughter again. The sheer ridiculousness of _ealglovale_ made it so oddly endearing.

Deciding that leaving it in his vicinity too long would make him get nothing done, he carefully placed it next to diminutive Freezer gang sculptures Erin made for him that time. After getting one last chuckle out of the sculpture, he turned to the remaining gifts. The care package was carefully assembled with the giftee in mind, so it was only appropriate that he send something special back in return, but then how should he go about it?

Aglovale became so engrossed with planning out his return gift that he got none of his paperwork done anyways.

**Author's Note:**

> Aglovale's yukata design is based on [@satuko8's](https://twitter.com/satuko8/status/1156563050595381253?s=21). Lily's summer design comes from her [Rage of Bahamut card](https://twitter.com/makaiJ/status/1281181419314614274) released this year. (By the way, I want Yukata Aglovale and duo Lily-Erin Summer alts. I'm going to will them into existence.)
> 
> For those who weren't around for The Many Lives of Cats or Bzzt! Amped Up Summer: Aglovale and Vapaus (and Helnar) are all voiced by Tatsuhisa Suzuki. The taxidermied eal was a "present" in Bzzt! and I guess the crew just kept it for kicks.


End file.
